Taking care of your feet could improve your chances of staying on them.

For most of our adult lives, we can take it pretty much for granted that once we're upright and on our feet, we'll stay that way. But starting in about our mid-60s, remaining perpendicular is not such a sure thing. Each year, about one in every three older Americans takes a tumble, and the chances of falling increase in our 80s and 90s.

Fortunately, most of these falls result in only minor scrapes and bruises, if that. But they can be frightening, and even if there's little ...

Our Healthy Eating Plate alternative to the government's MyPlate.

Several months after the U.S. Department of Agriculture released the latest version of its Dietary Guidelines, the department unveiled the icon that's supposed to convey the main points. Dietary guidelines go back to the 1910s, and wheels, boxed groupings, and pyramids have been used to illustrate the prior versions. The government was smart to pick a plate this time. Pyramid imagery can show priorities and proportions, but no one — not even the ancient Egyptians — has ever eaten off a pyramid. The MyPlate icon is also easy to remember with ...

Results have been discouraging for Alzheimer's disease, but they may help stroke patients in a variety of ways.

Alzheimer's disease and the depression that often affects people starting at about age 65 can easily be mistaken for one another. Depression can cause dementia-like deficits in memory and other mental functions, and Alzheimer's disease can cause depressive-like apathy and withdrawal.

But many Alzheimer's patients don't just appear to be depressed. Perhaps up to 30% of them are depressed, although depression in people with dementia may be expressed in atypical ways (see sidebar below). Some studies have also found depression to be ...

Q. My wife has morphea spots on many areas of her body. We are currently treating them with Dovonex cream, which seems to help a little but is very expensive. Do you have a better way to treat this disease? We have been told that very little is known about how to treat it.

A. Morphea (pronounced more-FEE-ah) is a fairly unusual skin condition. I see perhaps one or two cases a year. The plaque type — which is the most common and probably what your wife has — affects women more often than it does men and typically is ...